The proposed project is a book that will review and synthesize recent menstrual cycle research done by health and behavioral scientists. There has been a recent surge of interest in the menstrual cycle, in part because of the women's movement. What was once the province solely of the physician has become an area studied by psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, physiologists, nurses and even government agencies. This new research has been fruitful. There have been advances in theory and methodology which have resulted in a better understanding of the behavioral sociocultural and hormonal aspects of menstruation. However, much of this information has not been communicated across disciplines. The behavioral literature does not reflect much of the new medical knowledge, such as the new work with prostaglandins and dysmenorrhea, and physicians are not aware of recent psychological research with normal women, such as the measurement of the magnitude of premenstrual mood changes and the evidence that there is no impairment of function associated with menstruation. This book will attempt to bridge the biomedical and social sciences, comprehenisvely documenting what is known about the menstrual cycle and its influence on women throughout their lives. Making this information, which has been scattered among many specialized books and journals, readily available to health professionals and behavioral scientists should foster more sophisticated research, better health education and an improvement in the quality of health care available to women.